Neuroanatomical and gene expression features of the rabbit accessory olfactory systemimplications of pheromone communication in reproductive behaviour and animal physiology

  1. Rodríguez Villamayor, Paula
Dirixida por:
  1. Paulino Martínez Portela Director
  2. Pablo Sánchez Quinteiro Director

Universidade de defensa: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

Ano de defensa: 2023

Tribunal:
  1. Enrique Lanuza Presidente/a
  2. Carmen Bouza Fernández Secretaria
  3. Rose Ruiz Daniels Vogal
Departamento:
  1. Departamento de Zooloxía, Xenética e Antropoloxía Física

Tipo: Tese

Resumo

Mainly driven by the vomeronasal system (VNS), pheromone communication is involved in many species-specific fundamental innate socio-sexual behaviors such as mating and fighting, which are essential for animal reproduction and survival. Rabbits are a unique model for studying chemocommunication due to the discovery of the rabbit mammary pheromone, but paradoxically there has been a lack of knowledge regarding its VNS pathway. In this work, we aim at filling this gap by approaching the system from an integrative point of view, providing extensive anatomical and genomic data of the rabbit VNS, as well as pheromone-mediated reproductive and behavioural studies. Our results build strong foundation for further translational studies which aim at implementing the use of pheromones to improve animal production and welfare.